Krakow Restaurants

While it’s hard to argue that Poland has one of the world’s great cuisines, the old traditions of Polish cooking have undergone a revival of sorts in recent years, with many restaurants bringing new flair to the old favorites. Most Polish meals centre heavily around starch and protein, so you won’t have any trouble filling your stomach. Another bonus is that most meals in the city are surprisingly cheap, which will help keep your wallet full.

Local cuisine

Traditional Polish cuisine is formed from the diverse and numerous ethnic groups which have occupied, lived in or travelled through this great city. On Krakow tables, a typical daily diet includes meat, eggs, cheese, sausages, potatoes, bread, pies and dumplings. One of the centre pieces of a Polish meal is the soup, which can often be a meal in itself. Polish soups are thick and nourishing, with plenty of peas and beans. Barszcz, or clear beet soup, is the most traditional, but the interesting zurek, or soured barley soup, should also be tried at least once.

Pork, in all its forms, finds its way into many Polish dishes. Suckling pig and wild boar are favourites as well as traditional sausages (kabanos), which are dried and smoked, and the myriad kinds of kielbasa. Additionally, beef and chicken are fast becoming staples of the Polish diet. A popular hunter’s dish, bigos, is made with fresh and soured cabbage, cooked for several days with different kinds of meat and sausages.

There are three main meals in Poland. The first meal of the day is sniadanie (breakfast) and is fairly substantial. Bread topped with sausage, ham or cheese along with eggs and oatmeal make up the plate. Next comes the main meal of the day, obiad (dinner), which is eaten around 16:00, as most Poles work until 15:00 or 16:00. On weekends, it is taken earlier, between noon and 14:00. A typical dinner is two courses, with a soup first, followed by a meat and potato dish. The evening kolacja (supper) is a lighter version of dinner, taken a few hours later. In between these meals, Poles may indulge in a second breakfast before dinner or an afternoon tea.

Where to eat

The traditional sit-down restaurant is the main dining scene in Krakow and offers options in all price ranges. If you are in a hurry, there are even more choices. The traditional self-service milk bars and cheap cafeterias are slowly being replaced by fast-food joints, but they are still pretty good. Even quicker are the many street stalls, usually housed in a white caravan, serving up the ubiquitous zapiekanki (French bread toasted with cheese and mushrooms). Vietnamese food is another hugely popular street stall option.

The revival of the Kazimierz district has brought with it a wave of new cafés, with new ones opening on a regular basis. While many of them offer Kosher Jewish dishes, there are also plenty of traditional Polish cafés and a number of other ethnic places. The Old Town is generally the best area to find what you’re looking for. Some of the city’s oldest restaurants are here, such as Wierzynek, which has been serving food for over 600 years. Chlopskie Jadlo is another long standing local favourite, where diners sit on rustic wooden benches and feast on traditional Polish dishes, some of which have been served in the city since medieval times.

Many restaurants in Krakow have changed their hours of operation to accommodate the influx of visitors. It is quite likely you can get your lunch (or dinner, as the Poles see it) at noon, instead of the standard 15:00 opening time. There is also a growing trend for restaurants to stay open much later than in the past, although a great many places still close up around 21:00.